The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., has never done a fashion exhibition. For its first, it chose to focus on two living American designers who have owned and operated their label independently from its inception. The exhibition, titled simply “Rodarte,” opens Nov. 10 and runs through Feb. 10, 2019, showcasing nearly 100 pieces from 18 collections by Kate and Laura Mulleavy, the sisters who started their California-based label 13 years ago.
This is not the first time a museum has come calling to feature the Mulleavys’ work — the Cooper Hewitt staged a show on Rodarte in 2010, as did the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles the following year — but the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ show is Rodarte’s biggest yet. Guest curator Jill D’Alessandro, who oversees costume and textile arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, worked with the Mulleavys to break down their collections into recurring themes: Early Innovations, Magical Beautiful Horror, Woodshock, Black Swan, Texture, Northern California Roadmap, Light and The Garden. The pieces are displayed in full, original runway looks with hair by Odile Gilbert and an installation by Rafael de Cardenas/Architecture at Large.
In many ways,

HIGHLY SENSITIZED: Stefan Sagmeister and Jessica Walsh, the creative duo behind Sagmeister & Walsh, turned to Swarovski for a little reinforcement to create “The Sensory Room.”
The multi-sensory installation is part of the “Sagmeister & Walsh: Beauty” exhibition at the MAK, Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art in Vienna.
Through March 31, museum visitors will find an exhibition that is rooted in the power of beauty in design. The main attraction is the Sensory Room. Stepping into the crystal-encrusted, white cube-like area, patrons are immersed in fog, beams of color, citrus scents and sound. Combined, the overall effect of all the elements is meant to help visitors relax with a calming and soothing experience. Even the music — song of the Malaysian marsh frog — is meant to help patrons unwind.
The artistic four walls are encased in more than 26,000 Swarovski crystals. The two New York–based designers decided on Chalkwhite for a soft glow with an added luster. In total, Sagmeister & Walsh have chosen 70 items for the exhibition, which consumes most of the MAK on the Stubenring. Near the Selfie Station, visitors have the choice of virtually wearing one of two dresses designed by Mary Katrantzou. The longtime Swarovski collaborator

While many fans of “The Crown” are still pining over lead actress Claire Foy’s decision to move on to other roles, they will be able to find remnants of her Queen Elizabeth II portrayal next year at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library.
Her character’s wedding dress from the Netflix drama will be among the 40 ensembles spotlighted in “Costuming the Crown.” The lead actress ended her two-season run by winning the Best Actress award at this year’s Emmys. With Olivia Colman taking on Foy’s royal part, Tobias Menzies replacing Matt Smith as Prince Philip and Emerald Fennell stepping in as Camilla Parker Bowles, the third season of the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning drama is underway.
Back in Wilmington, Del., Kim Collison, manager of exhibitions and collection planning and her team at the museum are finessing the museum’s upcoming show, which will be held in the Winterthur Galleries starting March 30. Working with Left Bank Pictures, which produces the series with Sony Pictures Television, the exhibition will feature an assortment of accoutrements — tiaras, epaulets, medals and the like — along with the period-appropriate ensembles.
Winterthur first displayed a costume from “The Crown” last fall, when the first coronation dress that was used

SIMONS RECOGNIZED FOR HIS QUILTS: Raf Simons, chief creative officer of Calvin Klein, Inc., will be honored by the American Folk Art Museum at its annual benefit gala on Oct. 2.
AFAM will recognize Simons specifically for his work with American quilts at Calvin Klein. Since joining the company in 2016, the Belgian-born Simons has incorporated quilts into the visual language of the brand, infusing the brand with his take on Americana. Quilts have appeared in the collections, advertising campaigns, and most recently in a design project with Cassina at Design Miami/Basel.

A Calvin Klein vintage quilt.
Courtesy Photos

Some of Simons’ quilts have been embroidered with phrases such as “Made in New York City,” and “Designed in America.” A collection of vintage American quilts — all sourced by Simons and the Calvin Klein Home team — hangs in the Madison Avenue flagship store among installations designed by Sterling Ruby.
“Raf Simons is one of the world’s most influential designers, and his focus on American quilts shines a light on a potent art form that the American Folk Art Museum has long collected, exhibited and championed,” said Monty Blanchard, president of the board of trustees, American Folk Art Museum. “AFAM has one of the world’s

Before Dosa’s Christina Kim picks up the National Design Award for Fashion from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum this fall, she will be exhibiting why she earned it.
Partial to protecting handcrafts and recycling goods to reduce waste, the designer and artist will be involved with a series of projects. Just back from Mexico, Kim has been working with artisans in Oaxaca, finessing an installation. Under her direction, their work will be installed in a 15,000-square-foot former cotton mill that is now an art center. The eight-person team is cutting paper into what will look like lace in time for the July 8 opening. There will be 1,000 hand-cut designs. “It’s a lot of work, but that is part of working with artisans,” said Kim, who has already made three trips there and plans to make three more before the opening.
Having worked on Oaxaca for 27 years, she has teamed with a workshop that specializes in handmade papers for 15 years. “It’s interesting how you can make paper look like textiles.” Kim said. “I haven’t been doing as many collections any more because I have been working with so many different cultures and I see shifts happening really quickly. What I’m

But while the three sisters didn’t pose together for photographers, they united inside New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art where “they struck poses against the gorgeous walls of the French Wrightsman galleries” in a video shared to Vogue‘s Instagram page.

Though all seemed to skip the over-the-top couture designer duds that stars like Cardi B, Rihanna, and Katy Perry costumed themselves in for the event’s “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” theme, the KarJenners found their own way to stand out.

“We were all so nerve-wracked because it was such a big moment, but she killed it,” makeup artist Ariel Tejada told PeopleStyle of her look. “It’s refreshing for somebody to walk onto a carpet looking refreshed and glowing and just ready to take on the event.”

When the man who curated a Carl Andre show fires a woman who curated a Kerry James Marshall show, it’s not a good look.Culture and Arts
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“In the museum world, we hear about curators discovering new species of dinosaurs, or something. In this case, we didn’t find an amazing dinosaur.”Culture and Arts
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS-Visit Adults Playland today for the hottest adult entertainment online!

ACRX Recognition Gallery: American Consultants Rx
http://www.acrx.org -As millions of Americans strive to deal with the economic downturn,loss of jobs,foreclosures,high cost of gas,and the rising cost of prescription drug cost. Charles Myrick ,the President of American Consultants Rx, announced the re-release of the American Consultants Rx community service project which consist of millions of free discount prescription cards being donated to thousands of not for profits,hospitals,schools,churches,etc. in an effort to assist the uninsured,under insured,and seniors deal with the high cost of prescription drugs.

The American Consultants Rx discount prescription cards are to be given free to anyone in need of help curbing the high cost of prescription drugs.

Due to the rising costs, unstable economics, and the mounting cost of prescriptions, American Consultants Rx Inc. (ACRX) a.k.a (ACIRX) an Atlanta based company was born in 2004. The ACRX discount prescription card program was created and over 25 million discount prescription cards were donated to over 18k organizations across the country to be distributed to those in need of prescription assistance free of charge since 2004.

The ACRX cards will offer discounts of name brand drugs of up to 40% off and up to 60% off of generic drugs. They also possess no eligibility requirements, no forms to fill out, or expiration date as well .One card will take care of a whole family. Also note that the ACRX cards will come to your organization already pre-activated .The cards are good at over 50k stores from Walgreen, Wal mart, Eckerd”s, Kmart, Kroger, Publix, and many more. Any one can use these cards but ACRX is focusing on those who are uninsured, underinsured, or on Medicare. The ACRX cards are now in Spanish as well.

American Consultants Rx made arrangements online for the ACRX card to be available at http://www.acrxcards.com where it can also be downloaded. This arrangement has been made to allow organizations an avenue to continue assisting their clients in the community until they receive their orders of the ACRX cards. ACRX made it possible for cards to be requested from online for individuals and organizations free of charge. Request for the ACRX cards can also be made by mailing a request to : ACRX, P.O.Box 161336,Atlanta,GA 30321, faxing a written request to 404-305-9539,or calling the office at 404-767-1072. Please include name (if organization please include organization and contact name),mailing address,designate Spanish or English,amount of cards requested,and telephone number.

American Consultants Rx is working diligently to assist as many people and organizations as possible. It should be noted that while many other organizations and companies place a cost on their money saving cards, American Consultants Rx does not believe a cost should be applied, just to assist our fellow Americans. American Consultants Rx states that it will continue to strive to assist those in need.

The British Museum apologized and said their initial tweet addressed single objects with multiple Asian names.Arts
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Ahead of a Sept. 20 show at Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre, Harry Styles took the stage at downtown L.A.’s Grammy Museum on Friday night (Sept. 15) for a Q&A conducted by writer and filmmaker Cameron Crowe. Styles, who released his self-titled debut in May, was joined by producer Jeff Bhasker for a lively, often laugh-out-loud… Read more »

ALL ABOUT ORLA: London’s Fashion and Textile Museum plans to mount an exhibit on British fashion designer Orla Kiely in May 2018.
“Over the past 20 years we have built an archive of fashion, accessories and homeware rooted in our signature style,” said Orla Kiely. “With the exhibition, we will be bringing it all together under one roof in a celebration of design, print and color that has become the Orla Kiely brand. It is very exciting and an enormous privilege through which we can show the dynamic power of design while looking positively to the future with a clear vision and global identity established.”
“Orla Kiely: A Life in Pattern” will feature more than 150 of her prints and pieces. Known for her use of vivid Sixties prints and silhouettes, the exhibit will highlight Kiely’s life as a designer, her inspirations and will delve into her fascination with patterns. The show will also feature sketches, prints and product prototypes. Also on display will be products created in collaboration with architects, photographers and film directors. Kiely’s original paper sketches for her signature “Stem” graphic that she designed in the Nineties will be showcased.
“The Orla Kiely exhibition will offer a privileged insight into

Despite all the garbage going on in America, or perhaps because of it, people are turning to art for comfort and stimulation.Arts
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS-Visit Adults Playland today for the hottest adult entertainment online!

THE GREAT EXHIBITION: Olivier Saillard’s new exhibition, “The Ephemeral Museum of Fashion,” on show at the Costume Gallery of the Palazzo Pitti in Florence through October 22, may not be here to stay but the Parisian curator hopes it will have a lasting impact on the approach to fashion museums in Italy and beyond.
The poetic show unites rare pieces from the Palazzo Pitti’s collections as well as the Palais Galliera in Paris that Saillard directs, combining historical costumes and vintage designer gowns with contemporary creations on loan from Italian, French, Belgian and Japanese houses.
Spread throughout a series of the palazzo’s richly decorated rooms, the pieces are grouped into themes. Highlights include “Dust, Color, Time,” presenting creations including an exquisite 1911 Mariano Fortuny silk plissé gown and a 1966 couture wedding dress by Madame Grès whose hues and textiles have been affected — for better or for worse — by contact with dust.
In “Clothes, Hanging, Waiting,” a row of outerwear pieces ranging from an early-1900s dust coat to a 1990 cage jacket by Jean Paul Gaultier hung from coat pegs, while in a room titled “The Dresses of Oblivion” an ivory silk crepe Madeleine Vionnet dress from 1933 is on display for

The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis has agreed to remove a controversial outdoor “gallows” sculpture following protests by local Native Americans. The large work includes design elements of seven different historical U.S. gallows, including one used to hang 38 Dakota Indians in the state in 1862.

“I regret the pain that this artwork has brought to the Dakota community and others,” museum executive director Olga Viso said in a statement announcing the decision that was posted on Facebook Saturday. “This is the first step in a long process of healing.”

The two-story structure entitled “Scaffold,” created in 2012 by Los Angeles artist Sam Durant and inspired by a dark history of American hangings, was intended as a criticism of capital punishment. But many in the local community considered it insensitive. The hanging of the “Dakota 38” after the U.S.-Dakota War in Minnesota was the largest state-sanctioned mass execution in U.S. history.

The artist now supports dismantling his exhibit, Viso’s statement said, and has told the museum’s executive director: “It’s just wood and metal ― nothing compared to the lives and histories of the Dakota people.”

“I am in agreement with the artist that the best way to move forward is to have Scaffold dismantled in some manner and to listen and learn from the elders,” she added.

Viso said she had hoped the choice of the work would trigger a valuable dialogue and increased awareness about capital punishment and violence. “I regret that I did not better anticipate how the work would be received in Minnesota, especially by Native audiences. I should have engaged leaders in the Dakota and broader Native communities in advance of the work’s siting,” she wrote in an open letter last week.

The details of how the work will be dismantled will be determined in meetings this week with tribal elders.

The large work ― with steps for visitors to climb to the gallows ― was to be one of 18 new works in a renovated Minneapolis Sculpture Garden at the Walker Art Center to be unveiled June 3.

Protesters on the scene applauded the decision when it was announced, but many plan to camp out at the space until the exhibit is removed. And anger has still been running high, with some on the scene brandishing signs reading: “This isn’t art; this is murder.”

James Cross, who identifies as Anishinaabe and Dakota, told the Pioneer Press that the decision to erect the scaffold without any input from the Native American community was a “slap in the face.”

“Scaffold” was praised by critics when it was shown in 2012 in Germany and in Scotland.

TUNNEL VISION: Maintaining its recent tradition of spectacular show locations with a powerful architectural bent, Louis Vuitton will set its cruise 2018 presentation on May 14 at the Miho Museum, set amid lush vegetation in the Shiga mountains near the Japanese city of Kyoto.
The museum was designed by I.M. Pei and features a huge tunnel leading to a structure with a steel-and-glass roof and a floor and walls made of a warm beige-colored limestone from France – the same materials the architect used to create the pyramid and reception hall at the Louvre museum in Paris, which was the setting for creative director Nicolas Ghesquière’s fall collection for the brand.
The designer tweeted a teaser photo of the site on Thursday afternoon showing the tunnel and a glimpse of the museum.

“We’ve always made architecture a very integral part of our story,” said Michael Burke, chairman and chief executive officer of Louis Vuitton. “When I launched cruise when I came here, it had to be exotic, it had to be places that you knew of but that you never went to,” he added. “Japan is a destination that everybody thinks they know, but they all know Tokyo.”
Louis Vuitton said that it has maintained strong

YouTuber Florence Schechter has started a campaign to create the world’s first brick-and-mortar vagina museum.Allure
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Warning: This article contains nude imagery that may not be appropriate for work environments.

When you see a woman’s naked body, what assumptions come to mind? Do you see a muse, a victim, a sexual object?

This question was on Phoebe Boswell’s mind when she began her multimedia series “For Every Real Word Spoken,” now on view in London. From a distance, the installation resembles a lineup of straightforward, naturalistic pencil drawings of unclothed women, not entirely distinct from the nude images that have adorned gallery and museum walls for centuries. Look closer, however, and you’ll notice that each subject holds a cell phone against her chest, the screen facing outward.

Drawn into each screen is a handmade QR code, which visitors are encouraged to scan with their cell phones, triggering a song, article, image or observation chosen by the real woman featured in the portrait. Scan the drawing above, for example, and Brenda Fassie’s “Good Black Woman” rings out, as if materializing from the heart of the naked figure.

The drawings, with their technological details, challenge the idea of the passive female nude. “They’re interactive drawings,” Boswell explained to BBC Africa. “They don’t just exist to please you. They exist to honor themselves.”

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Boswell, who was born in Kenya and raised in the Middle East, expanded upon the motivation for the series. “I wanted to subvert what we have been conditioned to think of when we see the female body naked,” she said. “What we have been taught it means, why we are so cautious about protecting it, why it has this edge of vulnerability the male body doesn’t have.”

In part, Boswell was inspired to pursue this topic after coming across a photograph of Ugandan women lying naked on a dirt road. When she first saw it, the image immediately filled her with visceral dread; without thinking, she surmised the women depicted had been the victims of violence.

She later learned that, far from being in danger, the photographic subjects had de-robed as an act of protest. “I thought they were victims and that was turned on its head,” Boswell said, disarmed by how deeply entrenched assumptions regarding women and their bodies are, even in the minds of self-professed feminists.

Through her work, Boswell aims to rupture the associations between female nudity and passivity, weakness and empty allure. “I wanted to celebrate the power of the female body,” she said. “Women are not just sexual objects or victims; we have the power to speak.”

For this series, Boswell took inspiration from conceptual artist Adrian Piper’s 1971 series “Food for the Spirit,” in which the artist photographed herself over the course of a month, both with clothes and without, as a ritual of self-love. “She seemed so in control of herself,” Boswell said, describing Piper’s photos as early selfies. “She was insisting, ‘This is how I want you to see me,’ taking complete control over this depiction of herself.”

Boswell reached out to potential “For Every Real Word Spoken” subjects on Facebook, inviting women to join her “army” and explore the ways bodies could be used as protest. Her subjects ― a range of writers, artists and activists in her community ― imitate Piper’s blunt and forward pose, staring at the viewer head-on.

In lieu of a camera, however, Boswell’s subjects wield cell phones, the vessels that provide women easy means to portray and disseminate their images, tastes, accomplishments and opinions on their own terms. Incorporating modern tech into the art-viewing experience, Boswell thought, would perfectly summon the proper tension between the image and the person, the digital and the real.

“The way we depict ourselves is very much through this space of the digital,” Boswell said. “We have these theoretical, curated versions of ourselves we portray online. And we have our real, vulnerable, fleshy selves that have flaws and suffer. Putting together the very fragile medium of drawing with this digital technology allows the subject to speak directly to the viewer without my input.”

Boswell is known for igniting traditional draftsmanship ― or draftswomanship as she calls it ― with the help of virtual technologies like animation, sound and digital manipulation. “I try and layer languages to tell stories,” Boswell said. “I think our identities are so complicated it’s possible to tell our stories in one singular, semantic language. I always use technology in my practice, and am constantly navigating how to do that in ways that honor the draftsmanship, that don’t take over but complement it.”

For her exhibition title, Boswell lifted a quote from feminist writer Audre Lorde, which reads: “For every real word spoken, for every attempt I had ever made to speak those truths for which I am still seeking, I had made contact with other women while we examined the words to fit a world in which we all believed, bridging our differences.”

The artist hopes her imagery, like Lorde’s writings, inspire women “to resist the limitations placed on us in society and to speak.”

Phoebe Boswell’s “For Every Real Word Spoken” runs until April 22 at Tiwani Contemporary in London.

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UNDER THE DESERT SUN: The Yeohlee Teng designs that are now on view in the Phoenix Art Museum’s “Yeohlee|Serra” exhibition were a long time coming.
Curator Dennita Sewell first saw Yeohlee’s pieces, when she was a collections manager at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. “She saw them there and I guess they stayed with her for a very long time.” Teng said. “That was in 1995 and the pieces were from spring of 1992.”
Sewell said, “I was there when they were donated and I just always remembered how striking they were. You can imagine in that environment where there are so many great things, and they made such an impression on me — the graphic nature [of the pieces], the originality. I believe she came in and talked about the zero waste [principle] and how they had been sewed from seven meters.”
The compact exhibition juxtaposes Teng’s ivory and black designs opposite Richard Serra’s oil-stick paintings. The artist is known to heat black paint stick sometimes to a fluid state to create elemental forms. But Teng noted, “Both bodies of work happened independently of each other. They just happened in the same time frame but in different disciplines.”
Another curator, Susan Sidlauskas,

Who wouldn’t want to start their day frolicking around the Metropolitan Museum of Art before opening hours to such lively standards as “Staying Alive” and “Dance to the Music,” all the while taking in the Met’s beautiful spaces and magnificent works of art?

The MetLiveArts has commissioned a new work entitled, The Museum Workout, whereby participants are able to exercise within the confines of the museum while also experiencing all the splendid art throughout. The routine is both physical and interactive, and is led by two enthusiastic and athletic dancers, choreographer Monica Bill Barnes and dance partner Anna Bass, both wearing elegant brown and gold sequined dresses with matching New Balance workout shoes. At the session I attended, the engaging dancers introduced themselves, told us about the program, and instructed everyone to follow their moves closely.

Leading the group of about twenty through a workout to the memorable tunes of such fabulous artists as the Bee Gees and Lionel Richie, Robert Saenz de Viteri (creative producing director of Monica Bill Barnes & Company) followed us around with a laptop broadcasting the selected soundtrack to our workout, which included jogging, brisk walking, and dancing. For brief intervals, we stopped before classic sculptures and lovely paintings, and were led in stationary calisthenics. At one point, moving forward during the exquisite “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” it was as if we had turned into the Von Trapp children (sans the play clothes made from drapes) from The Sound of Music as they sang “Do Re Mi,” biking and dancing through Salzburg. We all became the stars of this “performance art” piece. At various stops throughout the museum, we heard the recorded voice of another collaborator of the work, writer/illustrator Maira Kalman, offering her thoughts about the Met and perspective of the experience.

The actual workout consists of a two-mile walk/jog/dance, lasting 45 minutes, and leading the participant through various wings and exhibits of the museum. Both Monica and Anna moved gracefully, and as we followed their motions, we received the full benefit of a workout. As a certified personal trainer and endurance athlete accustomed to running the 6.1 mile loop around Central Park, I was cheerfully surprised by this light cardiovascular interval workout. Especially gratifying were the arm routines, as we frequently moved our arms in harmony with Monica and Anna’s maneuvers. The interactive workout concludes in The Charles Engelhard Court, offering an expansive view of Central Park and its joggers. Although it was a beautiful morning outside, this was one time I was glad to be having my workout inside the museum.

The Museum Workout takes place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, Thursdays – Sundays through February 12; sessions begin at 8:30am. For more information and to buy tickets click here.

BOOKING IT: Donna Karan is taking her story on the road, but first a few sit-downs in New York.
On Oct. 20, she will have a conversation with Alina Cho, editor at large at Random House, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, followed by a book signing for her new memoir, “My Journey.” It is a private Friends of The Costume Institute event. As reported, she will also be having a conversation with her friend, Trudie Styler at the 92nd Street Y on Oct. 15. Next week, there will be not one, but two parties to celebrate her memoir. The first is Monday night at Tutto Il Giorno, hosted by Pierre-Yves Roussel and Anna Wintour, and the second is Wednesday night at Urban Zen.

ATLANTA — Considering Oscar de la Renta’s close ties to the Savannah College of Art and Design, it was fitting that SCAD FASH opened its first fashion collection dedicated to the late designer.
The fashion museum, which officially opened Oct. 3 at the school’s campus here, was spun out of 10,000 square feet of space originally used for events, said Paula Wallace, president and founder of SCAD. The full-scale remodeling of the facade and interior began this summer and transformed much of the area into an elegant room that can be modularly changed according to the dictates of each exhibition it presents. Visitors enter by ascending a grand staircase that offers a dazzling panoramic view of the city.
The museum gallery is surrounded by fashion classrooms on two sides and leads into the library-style Film Salon, a lounge for visitors and the Assouline store with merchandise made by SCAD students, a fashion resource library, and a collection study and conservation lab.
SCAD celebrated the opening on Thursday with Champagne and hors d’oeuvres as guests toured the collection of Oscar de la Renta creations past and present, including some fall 2015 designs by Peter Copping, the fashion house’s creative director, who took the helm

PARIS – A flock of sheep invaded the Palais de Tokyo in Paris this weekend as part of a global awareness campaign orchestrated by The Woolmark Company.
The three-day event, ending Sunday, includes artwork made of wool, a photo exhibit about the natural fibre, and a series of dance performances showing off wool’s versatile nature.
Brands, including Adidas, which developed running apparel based on wool, and Dormeuil, supplier of fine wool fabrics to bespoke tailors including Cifonelli, Camps de Luca and Brioni, set up stands to let visitors get physical.
WWD caught up with Peter Ackroyd, global strategy advisor for The Woolmark Company, at the event.
WWD: What is so special about wool?
Peter Ackroyd: Its diversity. It can be made into suits, blankets or sportswear, and we think we don’t even know all the end-uses of wool. But it’s not only a very diverse fibre — at the end of its life it goes back to earth and enriches the soil. It doesn’t end up as landfill. We put a wool sweater next to an acrylic sweater in Prince of Wales’ garden. In five months, the wool sweater has almost entirely gone back to nature, the acrylic one — you just shook it and put it

DESIGNS ON LONDON: The London Design Festival will have a distinct fashion flavor, with names including Swarovski, Selfridges and Kvadrat taking part in the September showcase.
Swarovski has teamed with designer Kim Thomé on an installation called “Zotem,” which is meant to be a fusion of “totem” and “zoetrope.” The 59-foot tall monolith was created with more than 600 bespoke Swarovski crystals and will stand at the entrance of the V&A Museum. The Swarovski crystals are presented in a gridlike pattern within a matte black aluminum frame.
RELATED STORY: Swarovski’s Fashion Element >>
“The only brief I was given was that I was to use Swarovski crystals and that it would be situated in the Grand Entrance of the V&A — which was enough for me to work with,” Thomé told WWD. “As I had no preconceived idea of what I was going to do when I was first given some sample Swarovski crystals, the project was really led by what I learnt by experimenting with the crystals and exploring the how they could be experienced differently.”
He said the inspiration behind Zotem was a response to the interior architecture of the V&A’s Grand Entrance. “I wanted to create a site-specific installation that would entice

On the heels of Art Basel, we sat down for a Q&A with Tatyana Franck, the newly appointed director of Lausanne’s photography museum, the Musée de l’Élysée. A dynamic, multi-cultural leader, she arrived at the museum after serving as the Director of the Archives Claude Picasso.

Q: What was your first contact with art?

Franck: Art and photography have always been my passions. I have been surrounded by artists since my youth. It was in front of a photograph by the American Nan Goldin that I knew – at the age of 17 – that I wanted to dedicate my life to the artists, as I am intimately convinced that art can change the world. Q: You studied in France, Great-Britain, China, United-States, and you’re now working in Switzerland: which country is the most striking, according to artistic management?

Franck: I am indeed traveling the world but I definitely think that Lausanne, and Switzerland in general, is the place to be. We are currently building a new museum complex that will open in 2020 and which will gather the Museum of Fine Arts (mcb-a), the design museum (mudac) and the Photography Museum (Elysée). It is a great opportunity to conceive the photography museum of the 21st century. Lausanne is not only a cultural city, but it is also the capital of The Olympic Games, one of the most important technological centers in Europe with the EPFL. It also has one on the best art schools, ECAL, top theatres (Vidy), the ballet Maurice Bejart and the Opera. In short, it is a vibrating city, a small town with an international influence!

Q: One of today’s fashionable words in talking about cultural management is “cultural entrepreneurship,” wording that some people in the art world criticize. You’ve studied law and worked in the art market, is your artistic view influenced by this idea?

Franck: My vocation has always to be a museum director. For that, you not only have to be an art historian, but also a manager and a leader. It is with that mindset that I decided to study law and business as I am currently studying at the Executive MBA Global Asia created by Columbia Business School, London Business School and Hong Kong University.

Q: You have just been appointed director of the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, can you tell us a bit more about your appointment by the government of the canton of Vaud? What are the biggest challenges in your new position?

Franck: The Musée de l’Elysée is a gem in the museum world. It has always been one of my favorite museums and the opportunity to build and to think about its future in the new building that will open behind the train station is a wonderful challenge. It is not only about taking the responsibility of running a museum, but it is also the challenge of building a brand for the new museum.

Q: What is your view of the Musée de l’Elysée and what are your main projects for it?

Franck: I intend to develop the Musée de l’Elysée’s current national and international reputation in various ways by translating all communication materials in three languages (French, English, German), conducting an ambitious digitization program of the museum’s book and images collection, innovating with new technologies (augmented reality, multimedia contents) and building bridges between photography, art and other fields.

Q: Can you tell us more about its upcoming program?

Franck: Our program is developed both at the museum and outside its walls. In the beginning of July, we will host an event in the museum’s gardens – the Nuit des Images (Night of Images) which showcases photography in all of its states. It does this through various projections by young and renowned artists, a book fair, family activities and special projects for the museum’s 30th festivities. This will be followed by an exceptional collaboration with a major Swiss and international music festival – Paléo Festival Nyon, which allows us to produce an exhibition for a brand new public. More than just a photography museum, the Musée de l’Elysée is a point of view. Also, did you know that the exhibitions produced by the museum travel the world? Just last year, we had almost 50 openings abroad! In the fall, will present an exhibition on the treasures of the museum’s collections, “The memory of images: the iconographic collection of the Canton de Vaud.” As far as programming for 2016 is concerned, it will be announced in the fall.

Q: How do you perceive the emerging artistic scene today?

Franck: I am especially attracted to the upcoming scenes in China, Latin America and Eastern Europe. In our “reGeneration3” exhibition, there are 8 Polish photographers that have been selected! The Polish scene is growing and fascinating. I also very much support the local scene, which is very vibrating.

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Constance Breton is an ARTPHAIRE contributor. She is also a the founder of The Art of this Century, which is a platform that offers bespoke experiences and journeys in the art world for a private community of members.

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BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s main national history museum on Wednesday launched an exhibition tracing 150 years of gay history in the country, including the first uses of the term “homosexual,” the brutal Nazi-era repression of gays and gradual moves toward legal equality starting in the 1960s.

The exhibition at the German Historical Museum in Berlin, which is staging it together with the capital’s privately run Gay Museum, has been four years in the planning but is opening amid a new debate in Germany over whether to allow full-fledged marriage for same-sex couples. They have been able to enter civil partnerships since 2001 but much of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party is reluctant to go further. Culture Minister Monika Gruetters said at the show’s presentation that it “puts the current debate about legal equality into a historical context.” She said it shows “how hard-fought the progress we can speak of today was, not just legally but also in society’s perceptions.”

The show, “Homosexuality_ies,” opens to the public Friday and runs through Dec. 1, featuring photo and film material, artifacts including an electric shock device used for “aversion therapy” in the 1950s and an “A to Z” section exploring issues ranging from gay marriage to censorship.

One of the earliest exhibits is a handwritten 1868 letter from Vienna-born writer Karl Maria Kertbeny to a German advocate of legal reform, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, which is believed to be the oldest written record anywhere of the words “homosexual” and “heterosexual.”

It also features the work of scientists such as sex researcher Magnus Hirschfeld, whose pioneering Institute for Sexual Research was shut down and looted shortly after the Nazis took power in 1933. The Nazi regime toughened the 1872 law criminalizing sex between men; West Germany changed the so-called “paragraph 175” to decriminalize it only in 1969.

Nazi Germany convicted some 50,000 homosexuals as criminals. An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 gay men were deported to concentration camps. A room in the exhibition titled “In the Pink Triangle” explores the stories of men and women caught up in Nazi persecution.

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Visitors coming to Philadelphia to see the pope this September will also be able to view treasured art from the Vatican.

“Vatican Splendors” opens Sept. 19 at the Franklin Institute. It will include artwork by Michelangelo, embroidered silk vestments, religious relics and bone fragments of Saints Peter and Paul, and a touchable cast of Pope John Paul II’s hand. The exhibit traces the evolution of the Roman Catholic Church over 2,000 years through 11 galleries that include objects such as mosaics, frescoes, maps and documents. Galleries aim to recreate environments such as catacombs and the papal chambers. Organizers say they want the exhibits to be a multisensory experience.

Pope Francis plans to visit Philadelphia in September for the World Meeting of Families, an international gathering for Catholics aimed at strengthening family bonds.

Larry Dubinski, the Franklin Institute’s chief executive, said being able to have the exhibit in Philadelphia during the World Meeting of Families and the pope’s visit will give it additional impact.

“Vatican Splendors” has traveled to other U.S. cities in recent years, but organizers said 40 percent of the items are new to this tour, and it has grown in size. About 200 items will be on display.

“It is such a gift to Philadelphia. So many people who otherwise would have to travel to another continent get to experience firsthand the culture and art of the Vatican,” said Donna Crilley Farrell, executive director of World Meeting of Families.

The Franklin Institute, a science museum named after Benjamin Franklin, is the exhibition’s first stop on a two-city North American tour and the only stop on the East Coast, the institute said. The other stop has not yet been announced.

The museum is just a few blocks from where the pope will celebrate an outdoor Mass on Sept. 27.

The exhibit will remain in Philadelphia through Feb. 15.

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Admission to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Guided tour of Historic RCA Studio B – Nashville’s only historic studio tour Get two packages for you to choose from
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Used – Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Hephaestus Books represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domai

In 1931, Diego Rivera was the subject of The Museum of Modern Art’s second monographic exhibition, which set new attendance records in its five-week run. The Museum brought Rivera to New York six weeks before the show’s opening and gave him on-site studio space. There he produced five “portable murals” -large blocks of frescoed plaster, slaked lime and wood that feature bold images drawn from Mexican subject matter and address themes of revolution and class inequity. After the opening, to great publicity, Rivera added three more murals, now taking on New York subjects through monumental images of the urban working class and the city during the Great Depression. Published in conjunction with an exhibition that brings together key works made for Rivera’s 1931 show, this catalogue casts the artist as a highly cosmopolitan figure who traveled between Russia, Mexico and the United States and examines the intersection of artmaking and radical politics in the 1930s. Illustrated with reproductions of each panel as well as related paintings, drawings, prints and documentary photographs, the book’s essays investigate the international politics of muralism, Rivera’s history with MoMA, the iconography of the portable murals and technical aspects of the artist’s working process. Diego Rivera (1886-1957) was a central figure in the development of Mexican muralism, an ambitious public art initiative intended to relay Mexico’s ideals after the Revolution (1910-1920). A highly cosmopolitan artist, Rivera had spent many years in Europe before returning to Mexico in 1921, and in 1927 he traveled to the Soviet Union where he met Alfred Barr, the soon-to-be founding director of The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Rivera’s artistic celebrity benefitted from major commissions in the United States, including murals for the Pacific Stock Exchange, the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco, MoMA and the Detroit Institute of Arts. By the 1930s, he enjoyed an unrivaled status at the

Recently, at the Museum of Modern Art with my niece, I found something unexpected blocking my favorite Van Gogh: a young woman standing with her back six inches away from the canvas, taking a “selfie.” As we strolled around the galleries, I spotted more of them. Selfies in front of the Jackson Pollack. Selfies in front of Monet’s Water Lilies. Selfies in front of Campbell’s Soup Cans. Like most technology-driven social phenomena, museum selfies seemed to have mushroomed overnight.

Until recently, the only digital annoyance I remember having to contend with in art museums was other visitors photographing the art at close range. Many museums allow non-flash photography, and it’s true that if a lot of people are taking pictures it can obstruct others’ view of the painting. Still, why shouldn’t someone be able to photograph a work of art they love — in order to enjoy and remember their museum experience later? Obsessive photo-taking might be somewhat self-centered in that there is no consideration about how it is impinging on the sight lines of others around them. On the other hand, the desire to capture the beautiful images of the art makes it ultimately a forgivable practice.

However, the narcissistic knee-jerk act of the museum selfie is in a whole other category. Now, not only can’t we see the art because someone is standing right in front of it, we are forced to look at the selfie subject(s) instead of the art. The art is now the background to the selfie-taker–as if it were wallpaper, or the view from the Empire State Building. The implication is that the work of art is secondary in importance to the person in front of it. Obviously it’s your choice if you want to have Van Gogh’s The Starry Night as your own personal backdrop (although I myself do not have that kind of hubris). The problem is that you are changing the art experience of those around you. Even when selfie-takers are not completely obscuring the art, it’s psychologically impossible to ignore it when someone is making themselves the subject; it’s hard to look past them at the painting. It is just like trying not to listen to someone talking on his cell on the train.

It’s difficult to say which is worse: The fact that we seem to need to document every moment of our existence or the need to put ourselves at the center of everything. (The selfie has become such a part of our culture that it was even the title of a TV show on ABC.) Because digital photos are free and easily deletable images we are in the habit of taking them without much thought. In museums, we sense we are having an important experience. We see beautiful art. We are moved, excited. The contemporary conditioned response to this emotion is to whip out the camera. And it is also highly contagious behavior. Once you see someone else doing it, you figure: Wait, maybe this would make a cool picture–me in front of a famous painting. This would be great on Instagram.

It’s pretty hard to fight the sweeping tide of cellphone selfie-taking per se. Besides, selfies are not all bad. In the old days when you traveled to Paris, you would have to ask a passerby to take a photo of your and your friend in front of the Eiffel Tower. Now you can just take it yourself. Isn’t this convenience an improvement? I have also seen some wonderful museum selfie photos that are a playful or ironic statement on the art: for example, a picture of person standing to the side of the painting imitating the pose of the subject in the painting, or a photo where it looks as if the person depicted in the painting is actually holding the phone. This kind of art riffing–which some people might find offensive–demonstrates a creativity I can’t really object to.

What I will object to is the “selfie stick,” a device for extending the cellphone an additional arm’s-length away. Even though I caught many people taking selfies in the museum, thank god I did not see anyone using one of these relatively new gadgets. (Is it just me, or does the term “selfie stick” sound pornographic?) The sticks are already in wide use in Asia, which is a sign they will probably be trending here very soon. What these accessories will mean in museums, of course, is an even more hindered view of the art, as using the stick allows for more people to fit into a group selfie-portrait.

So there I was, at MOMA with my niece, frowning inwardly and eschewing the whole self-involved, self-aggrandizing selfie trend. Until – er… guess what? My niece suddenly whipped out her iPhone to snap a selfie of us standing in front of a Gauguin. Did I resist? Did I take a stand against the decline of respect for great art? Or did I lean my head happily against my niece’s, open my eyes wide and smile gaily?

There’s a fine line between collecting 5,000 pieces of art and hoarding them. For Betsy Alexander, it’s all about placement.

“When we buy a piece of art, our friends will say, ‘Where are you going to put it?’… But there’s always a place — it’s just shocking,” says Alexander, who’s been collecting since she was 9 years old.

Her Philadelphia home-cum-museum is the subject of videographer Cory Popp’s latest project (Popp brought us a colorful look at his hometown’s front doors last month), and is filled floor to ceiling with quirky pieces like ray guns and wind-up robots — items that Alexander says mean more to her than going on a vacation or purchasing a fancy fur coat.

Take a closer look at some of her most unique items in the photos below and tour her home in the video above.

Are you an architect, designer or blogger and would like to get your work seen on HuffPost Home? Reach out to us at homesubmissions@huffingtonpost.com with the subject line “Project submission.” (All PR pitches sent to this address will be ignored.) Arts – The Huffington Post
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Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza (born 1933) is one of the most influential architects of the past half-century. His most famous work is perhaps the Serralves Museum in his hometown of Porto, his second museum building, following the Galician Center for Contemporary Art, erected in 1997. Low built and horizontal in axis, its white stucco walls are perforated with occasional openings that yield unexpected views of a surrounding garden. As with most of Siza''s buildings, the furniture and fittings were also designed by the architect, including lighting fixtures, handrails, doorknobs and all signage. Building materials include hardwood floors and painted walls in gesso with marble skirting in the exhibition halls and marble floors in the foyers. This volume, published in Poligrafa''s innovative Museum Building series, reviews the Serralves Museum, a disarmingly intimate space in pronounced contradistinction to much recent museum architecture.
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The best elements of the Science Museum in puzzle form. A fantastic activity book full of exciting puzzles and quizzes to do with space, cars, planes, ships, trains, medicine, energy and materials – do the constellation dot-to-dot, a weather crossword, a materials quiz, match the bone to the part of the body, untangle the vapour trails and as if that isnt enough there is a double page spread of stickers in the middle of the book. Two million people visit the Science Museum every year to see the extraordinary selection of exhibits and objects exploring the past, present and future of human invention and discovery. We are delighted to be publishing this brilliant sticker activity book in association with the museum, where children of all ages can learn about science in a fresh, fun and interactive way.
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Ideally located in downtown Ottawa, just a few minutes from Parliament Hill.

Superior Queen Suite offers a bedroom with 1 Queen bed, a kitchen with dishwasher, flat-screen TV with cable, separate living and dining area, and a balcony.

Enjoy an indoor pool, whirlpool, sauna, exercise and game rooms.

Take an entertaining and educational outing with 2 passes to the Canadian Museum of Nature.

Buy Details:

Includes a 1-night stay for 2 people in a Superior One Bedroom Queen Suite with complimentary parking, 2 passes for the Canadian Museum of Nature, and discount coupons to Johnny Farina’s Restaurant and The Fish Market Restaurant.

Valid 7 days a week. Rate is based on double occupancy but suite can accommodate up to 4 guests. An extra charge of $ 10 per person per night will apply.

Reservations must be made by calling the hotel at (800) 236-8399, subject to availability. Cannot be combined with any other special deal or offer at the hotel.

Blackout Dates: May 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24.

Valid to book and travel until May 29, 2014.

Refund Policy: within 14 days of purchase only. No refunds if room has been booked with hotel.

Unlimited per person and as gifts.

Taxes of 13% HST and 3% destination marketing fee are not included and will be paid directly to the hotel.

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